Deschutes Twilight Ale Reviewed

I received three bottles of the new Deschutes summer Seasonal, Twilight Ale in the mail from the brewery the other day and it reaffirmed my jealousy of all you left coasters who have all of Deschutes tasty brews so readily available.

The Twilight Ale is a great summer seasonal release because it’s light enough and “easy drinkin” enough to enjoy in a lawn chair after a hard summer day’s work — and at a modest 5% ABV, you could presumably enjoy a couple of them without much repercussion — but it’s still flavorful enough and full-bodied enough to keep the drinking session interesting. From the accompanying press release,

Twilight Ale is a straw-colored ale with a vigorous hop essence and a subtle, wafer-like body that complements the flavor of this special seasonal brew. It is a unique blend of four hops and malts: Cara-Pils and Carastan malts with the late addition of whole flower Cascade, Amarillo and Tettnang hops.

Brewer John Abraham said, “The malts of Twilight Ale are at once offset and complemented by citrus and floral aromas that come from the whole flower hops. The overall result is a crisp, effervescent, highly drinkable ale. I consider it the perfect hot weather quencher.”

Personally, I don’t know if I would call the hop presence “vigorous” but it was citrusy and smooth; a result, I’m guessing, of the dry hopping. I also wouldn’t call the malt-presence “subtle” either, as I got a lot of wafer and biscuit flavors out of the glass. Great white lacing, too. The little bit of malty sweetness picked up at the end is quite pleasant, too, and each sip leaves behind a nice-but-not-overpowering dryness. With an overall “B” rating on BeerAdvocate, it seems plenty of you out there agree: this is a great example of what a summer session beer should be like. I went through 2 of the 3 sample bottles which were sent to me pretty quickly but I think I’ll save the 3rd bottle for an especially warm, especially taxing summer weekend.

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